Q.Discuss the role of xenia (the guest-host relationship) in The Odyssey. How do guests and/or hosts exemplify or fail to meet the high standard he has in mind for how guests and hosts should treat each other?
Answer. Xenia is the great concept of hospitality and guest host relationship. The guest host relationship is explored in a number of episodes throughout the Odyssey. From the first half of the epic features Telemachus and Odysseus arriving at someone’s lands and being received as a guest and the interactions Telemachus and Odysseus have with their hosts during these episodes reveal the process in which the guest host relationship is developed. Some elements include the bath, the feast, the question of who the guest-gift, and the promise of transport and protection. Telemachus arrives at ploys while Nestor and his people are holding a grand feast, is welcomed by them, and participants in the feasting.
